黑料社

It is up to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) if it would publicize the names of village officials tagged of having links with illegal drugs, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) clarified聽on Saturday.

DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya issued the statement after the PDEA urged the public not to reelect village officials tagged in the illegal drug trade when the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections commenced on聽May 14.

The PDEA聽on Saturday聽disclosed that there聽were 289 barangay officials, composed of 143 chairmen and 146 kagawads, included in the narco-list of President Rodrigo Duterte.

鈥淲e wish to clarify that the 鈥渘arco list鈥� is not prepared and maintained by DILG. It is prepared and聽maintained by PDEA. What the DILG and its attached agencies do is to provide information on drug聽personalities and activities to PDEA for verification and inclusion in the narco list,鈥� Malaya said in a statement.

搁贰础顿:听PDEA to voters: Don鈥檛 reelect narco-politicians in barangay polls

Malaya explained that PDEA, pursuant to RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, is the lead agency in the government鈥檚 war on drugs.

The agency also serves as the chair of the Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs created by聽Duterte under Executive Order No. 15, he noted.

鈥淎s lead agency in the聽fight against illegal drugs, PDEA prepares and finalizes the list and acts on it accordingly,鈥� Malaya said.

However, the DILG spokesman said that they see the upcoming barangay elections as 鈥渁n opportunity to remove officials with ties to illegal drugs.鈥�

鈥淭his is the reason why we are urging the public to vote for candidates who are聽actively fighting the war against drugs in the barangay level,鈥� Malaya said.

鈥淚n the meantime, should there be evidence against incumbent barangay officials, DILG OIC-Secretary聽Eduardo M. A帽o has directed the PNP to do case build up so that the necessary cases can be filed聽against them without delay,鈥� he said. /jpv